Paper-cutter



i OE m En. Wflu an R m H No. 440,293. Patented Nov. 11, 1890.

UNITED STATES,

ATENT O FIC HERMAN E. IVILSON, OF FREEPORT, ILLINOIS.

PAPER-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,293, dated November 11, 1890.

Application filed May 27, 1890- To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HERMAN E. WILSON, a resident ofFreeport, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper- Outters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates \to improvements in paper-cutting devices, the object of the invention being to provide means for cutting or tearing a sheet of paper simultaneously along two lines at right angles to each other.

The invention is fully described and explained in this specification, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a top plan of one form of my device in operative position with reference to a sheet from which a piece is to be torn. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the paper-cutter in operation. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device, the View being in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a top plan of a modified form of the cutting-blade.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A A are two integrallyformed blades at an angle to each other, their inner edges, which form a re-entrant angle, being beveled and thereby adapted to cut or tear paper of any ordinary thickness. A handle A is secured to the blades and held in a vertical position immediately above their intersection by means of legs or rods a a, rigidly secured to the blades and set in the lower end of the handle. It is evident that if this device be placed upon a sheet of paper pressure upon the handle A is transferred by means of the legs a a to the blades and holds them firmly upon the surface of the paper, and if a projecting corner 0, Fig. 2, of the paper be raised and drawn upward and inward toward the vertex of the re-entrant angle it will be cut or torn along two lines coincident with the inner edges of the blades A A, and will finally be wholly detached, its inner angle being sharply defined and its edges being at right angles to each other.

This device may be used in any place where it is desired to tear comparatively small rect- Serial No. 353,369. (No model.)

angular pieces of paper from a larger sheet as, for instance, in a drug-store or a physicians office, or in a bank or other place of business where it is necessary to detach a large number of coupons from bonds or other instruments.

Fig. 1 shows the cutter in working position upon a bond and coupon sheet, B being the bond and C C O, &c., the coupons. As shown, the cutter is in position to detach the coupon G at one corner of the sheet, the cutting-edges of the blades A A being coincident with the inner boundary lines of the coupon, and it is evident that as each coupon is detached in its order the next succeeding coupon will be left in position to be operated upon by the cutter.

The use of this device in any place where it is necessary to detach large numbers of small rectangular pieces of paper from comparatively large sheets is very convenient, and the device itself is a great improvement over any cutter having only a single workinged e.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification of the cutting portion of the device, A A being the blades and A a foot or extension formed integrally with the blades and extending in the opposite direction from their intersection.

a is an opening to receive a screw or rivet for the attachment of a handle, which may be fastened directly to the blades at the intersection of the arms. The addition of the foot or extension A balances the device, so that the pressure upon the handle, even though it be fastened exactly at the intersection of the two blades, brings an even pressure on the blades throughout their entire length and adds to the firmness of the contact of the blades with the paper on which they are placed. It is evident that the form and means of attachment of the handle are not material, the gist of the invention being the making of the cutting-edge in two lines, forming a re-entrant angle. This angle, as shown and as it will ordinarily be used, is an angle of ninety degrees; but this is not essential to the invention, as it may be advisable in some cases to make it acute or obtuse, or to make the sides of the angle curved lines instead of straight.

Having now described and explained my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is

1. A paper-cutter having two rigidly-joined blades whose working-edges form a re-entrant angle of ninety degrees and are adapted to out two adjacent sides of a check, coupon, or

the like, substantially as set forth.

2. The paper-cutter having two blades at right angles to each other and a foot extending from the angle in the line of its bisector.

3. The combination, with the integrallyformed foot and blades, the latter making an angle of ninety degrees, of the handle above the blades and the bent rod rigidly connecting the blades and handle.

HERMAN E. WILSON.

Witnesses! R. H. WILES, T. K. GREENWOOD. 

